Bingeing around exam time

Oh, boy. I remember studying for an organic chem final and told myself I needed a doughnut to make it through the night. A dozen glazed doughnuts later, I was so sick to my stomach that I went to bed and slept through the exam which started at noon the next day. Obviously, this was an extreme case of bingeing and was purely psychological. 35 years later, I still am susceptible to bingeing but at no time has it been as bad as it was in college for me. Reminding myself of that fact helps me if I can "catch" myself starting to do that again. I tend to be a bit more rational and think first if I do become aware of it happening first. Sometimes I will still binge but at least it is less severe. I wish you the best of luck!

Are you logging everything you eat? If not, that's something I've found really helpful. Either pre-logging, to put me off over-eating or, if you can't stop yourself at the time, then at least logging it afterwards. Not as a way to shame yourself, but seeing the reality of the numbers can help prevent it happening next time.

And... if you are logging everything, then you're under-eating by a fair amount every day. Which can lead to binges.

I often don't log when I feel like I have "mucked up"... so a lot of the time I have about half a day

Maybe that's something to try then. Be more conscious of what you are actually eating. Like I said, try to stay away from using it to beat yourself up or feel ashamed, but use the diary to hold yourself accountable. It really helped me.

Another thing to consider is to just eat at maintenance while you're doing exams. Exams make you stressed which makes you overeat (and raises your cortisol levels, which doesn't help), overeating then adds to your stress which can't be good for your state of mind when you're trying to study. No harm in eating at maintenance for a while - it actually has physiological benefits too if you've been dieting for a while.

I usually binge when I'm stressed and especially around exam time. I counter it with lots of water. It fills me up and makes the idea of eating anything on top of a stomach full of water unappealing.

When I study I'll grab a Monster Rehab (20 cals) for energy and a whole lot of water. That a lone usually keeps me full. Also, I log everything, even if I have no idea what the cal count is, I'll estimate from other people's logs. I log on my phone which I have on me at all times and it doesn't take more than a few seconds, so I do it several times a day and have not missed a day since I started in January.
Good Luck on your exams, I know I'll need luck on mine... :ohwell:

Hi, I think firstly you need to do the opposite of getting dressed quickly. When you look at yourself more , the more you'll see the areas you need to work on. Soon or later you'll get fed up of looking that way and you'll put extra effort in to stop bingeing.I lost 38 lbs about two years ago and I walked around naked quite often just to ensure that I was seeing myself and when I started losing the weight I loved my body so much that I refused to put anything inside that would make me love it less. I am a student so I know exactly what you are talking about. It's mostly stress that's driving you to binge. Calm down. This is what I do, I removed all high calorie foods from my apartment. I only have fruits vegetables, water and vitamins! That way, no matter how hungry I get, I am forced to eat what is in the apartment while still getting the required brain food to be able to study and retain. I mean, we are students first aren't we? Start your day off with atleast two glasses of water or some low caloric tea. Preferably tea first so that you can have a clean stomach before having the water. That would definitely full you to a certain degree from the get-go. Have your breakfast but keep it simple. throughout the day just stay in the books. Try and keep your mind as occupied as you can. That always works for me. Sometimes I forget to eat at two hour intervals because of how busy I am. Try and have a glass of water before everything you eat. That way you will definitely eat less. I hope these tips work. Wishing you the best with your finals.